Joe I feel a need to assist you with some of your misconceptions. First, the former President Hafiz al-ASAD, was actually opening up to the US and west prior to his death, and perhaps there is still hope for Bashar al-ASAD, however I personally do not hold out much hope for this since he is increasingly embracing the radical portions of his country. (I think all the leaders in the Middle East; need a refresher on what happened with Neville Chamberlain and the policy of appeasement.) As for the UN, I think you need to read the charter; the security council was to consist of five permanent members the USSR (now Russia), The US, France, the UK, and China (up and until the seventies this was occupied by the Taiwanese, but is currently held by the Mainland government.) in other words the winners of World War 2. (There is a movement to add Japan and Germany to this list.) The other ten remaining seats are elected by the General Assembly to serve for a two-year term, and eligibility is not based on any territorial size or population figures. In reality, the only consideration was distribution of the non-permanent seats to include all areas of the world i.e. all the seats could not go to European states or Asian states. Below is the actual passage. As for the Security Council being only the “big five” as you put it, I doubt that anyone on this board believed that to be the truth, although a permanent member can veto any resolution with its single vote. Article 23 1. The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations. The Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America shall be permanent members of the Security Council. The General Assembly shall elect ten other Members of the United Nations to be non-permanent members of the Security Council, due regard being specially paid, in the first instance to the contribution of Members of the United Nations to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the Organization, and also to equitable geographical distribution. http://www.un.org/Overview/Charter/chapter5.html

Yes we all know how Syria exemplifys Security

Geez, are you trying out your new backhoe? LOL SC-.

Better make the UN less relevant then.